AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I want him to see me.
I want him to…
I want him to want me.
There.
How’s that for being honest with myself?
By the time the sun sets, we’ve cleaned the shed and carried in everything Rachel deemed worth saving from the house. I’d almost feel good, because I generally like being productive.
But.
Lake’s been deep in conversation with Kelly for the past half an hour already. The kind of conversation that takes place between people who’ve known each other for a long time, who share friends, and have annoying things like inside jokes between them.
I shouldn’t care.
But I do.
It screams trouble. That pulsing annoyance and borderline hate I feel for Kelly—a guy I don’t even fucking know.
There are blinking lights and sirens everywhere, but I don’t give a fuck.
I’m making my life needlessly complicated—still don’t give a fuck.
Not right now, at least.
Maybe tomorrow.
But not right now.
“You guys staying for dinner?”
I jump at Sawyer’s voice. I have no idea when he appeared next to me.
“We’re ordering something in a sec,” he continues, looking around the room. From me to Lake to Kelly, a questioning look on his face, phone in hand.
Lake gets up from where he’s been sitting on the floor. He wipes his palms over his ass and sends me a cryptic look. Or a regular look, because let’s face it, all of Lake’s looks are cryptic. At least the ones he directs my way.
“We’re gonna head out,” he says. “I’ve got class in the morning, and Ryk has practice.”
There is a world in that sentence. A weird fucking world where Lake and I are a we. The same unit. A united front. Where he’s got class in the morning, and I’ve got practice, and we’re leaving together. A weird fucking world where I have to resist sending Kelly a smug look because I’m heading out with Lake, and he isn’t, and somehow that seems to matter a lot right about now, even if Kelly himself doesn’t seem to give a single shit about where Lake goes or with whom.
“Ready to go?” Lake asks me.
“Yeah.”
We say our goodbyes and head out. He grabs the keys from my hand, and I snort and settle into the passenger seat.
The drive back home is quiet and quicker than usual.
Lake parks the car in front of his building and kills the engine. For a few seconds, his eyes remain on the steering wheel before he turns his head to look at me.
I should go home.
But there’s an insistent voice in my head telling me to stay.
I don’t move.
